Communication

Clarifying Conversations: Master the Art of Fact-Based Living

I recently had the privilege of hearing a presentation by Ron Karr, President of the National Speakers Association. During his workshop, he had us do an exercise that quickly illustrated why we often have difficulty with our communication. He gave us a seemingly simple word – race – and asked us to write down 10 […]

Do You Fear the Volcano Effect?

So many of my clients struggle with speaking up when they need to. And time and time again it comes down to staying quiet out of fear. People in their lives have been loud and angry. Or, they have had periodic bouts of angry spewing themselves. The resulting fear of voluminous communication stops them in […]

Tell Them What You Want! It Really Could Be That Simple.

Some of the solutions I help clients through could really be very simple; however, we have this tendency to get in our own way sometimes. Recently I spent yet another session working with a new client who is frustrated with his team. “They won’t do what I need them to do. They are professionals. They […]

In every relationship, including those at work, we have expectations. We expect others to act a certain way, respond to situations the way we’d like, care about the same things we care about. If you are someone who sets the bar high for yourself, chances are you also set it high for the people you share your work and life with.
The problem is

A norm is an often unstated rule that governs how people act in a group. New members of a team usually learn the norms through observation or trial and error. These norms can work for your business or against it.
Left to their own devices, teams can become toxic, aka drama-filled! An employee arrives in a bad mood. The group norm is to complain and whine about everything. Perfect! He or she fits right in! Even a new employee who starts off with high energy can get sucked in and turn sour.

It’s always fun to revisit an activity like that after years. You find that you have a whole new perspective. I am at a very different place in my life than I was when I last strapped those shoes on
and tightened that harness.

I guess that I must still feel pretty at ease way up the wall because my mind was on more than where I would put my foot or hand next. I couldn’t help but think about how many analogies there are to
make between climbing and leadership.
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Being divorced you might not expect that I’d be the best advocate for couples working to keep a marriage together. But, it is what I REALLY believe in! It’s what I am passionate about helping people achieve. It’s what I still long for in my own life. We are meant to live locked in relationship.